But Lionel Messi is 29. He’s in the prime of his career. Messi retiring now would be like LeBron retiring after last year’s loss to Golden State in the NBA Finals.

Messi overwhelmed after missing his penalty kick

His “retirement” is ultimately a power play to reform the Argentine Football Association (AFA) from the ground up.

The crushing weight of defeat was too much for Messi to cope with

The AFA is perpetually in shambles. Its integrity has been so corrupted by greed and mismanagement that Argentina – a place oozing talent out of the ground – has failed to secure a title in recent memory.

Yes, Diego Maradona hand-delivered them a World Cup in 1986, but 30 years is a long time to wait.

Argentina has lost two consecutive Copa América finals to Chile in penalty kicks (2016, 2015) and lost the World Cup final to Germany in 2014.

That’s a lot of heartbreak in three years.

The incessant whisperings of, and comparisons to Diego Maradona don’t help either. Instead of being a mentor and benevolent godfather, Diego Maradona has chosen to undermine the Argentine national team to the point of failure.

The only way to fix the mess is to burn the organization to the ground – which is exactly what Messi has done.

And he’s not going it alone.

Messi’s friends and teammates, international superstars in their own right, have retired in solidarity with Messi.

There are several players who are evaluating not continuing with the national team.

This is the worst locker room I’ve ever been in, worse than the final in the World Cup in Brazil and the other Copa America.